By Christopher Stevens For The Daily Mail
Published: | Updated:
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108 View commentsRed Eye (ITV 1)
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You'll never want to turn left again. Economy class might be cramped, noisy and depressing, but at least the cabin crew aren't actively trying to murder you.
On an all-night flight to Beijing, in Red Eye, handsome surgeon Dr Matthew Nolan (Richard Armitage) was served a vegan meal laced with poison, while a passenger with a concealed handgun sat behind him and a sinister stowaway was stalking the aisles.
Three of the doc's colleagues were with him in the First Class cabin — shanghai'd by menacing security men. A fourth who refused to board was kidnapped in the airport carpark and bundled into the back of a van.
Frankly, you have to wonder whether it's worth paying so much extra for the upgrade, if that's how they're going to treat you.
By the end of the first episode, one poor passenger was dead. He made the mistake of eating the vegan option intended for Nolan. Here's a good general rule when travelling — just have what everybody else is having. It's safer.
On an all-night flight to Beijing , in Red Eye, handsome surgeon Dr Matthew Nolan (Richard Armitage) was served a vegan meal laced with poison, while a passenger with a concealed handgun sat behind him and a sinister stowaway was stalking the aisles
Jing Lusi (right) plays Metropolitan policewoman DC Hana Li, detailed to keep our hero in handcuffs during the 'red-eye' flight.
Much of the six-part series was shot on a small set to replicate the claustrophobia of an aeroplane
Red Eye is a traditional thriller, one that starts at maximum speed with a chase, a crash, an arrest, an escape and another chase. It never lets up for a moment
Across the city at MI5 headquarters, Lesley Sharp (pictured) is the spy chief in charge of keeping relations with China sweet, at least until they've signed a deal to build a nuclear power station in the English countryside
Red Eye is a traditional thriller, one that starts at maximum speed with a chase, a crash, an arrest, an escape and another chase. It never lets up for a moment.
We know nothing about the doc, except that he claims to be a 'vascular surgeon' (no, me neither) and that he's accused of a crime he didn't commit. No need for flashbacks to his troubled childhood or complex psychological motives. He's innocent and the baddies want him dead. What more do you need?
READ MORE:Fool Me Once star Richard Armitage gives worrying career update ahead of his new ITV drama Red Eye
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Jing Lusi plays Metropolitan policewoman DC Hana Li, detailed to keep our hero in handcuffs during the 'red-eye' flight. We know a little more about her, since she felt it necessary to explain to her boss, as he handed her the assignment, that she was 1) born in Hong Kong, 2) brought up in the UK since the age of five, and 3) doesn't want to go to China.
'Because of what happened with your mum?' prompts her boss. With such a gift for tact and sensitivity, he ought to apply for the diplomatic protection squad.
Across the city at MI5 headquarters, Lesley Sharp is the spy chief in charge of keeping relations with China sweet, at least until they've signed a deal to build a nuclear power station in the English countryside. The doc is one of her bargaining counters: the Chinese police claim he left a young woman to die in a drunken car crash (He didn't! He's innocent!), and they want him extradited.
All we know about Mrs M is that she has a husband in a catatonic coma and a chauffeur called Philip.
Oh, and for reasons unspecified, there's a leather sofa in her office the size of a battleship. Perhaps all the secret agents crowd onto it with fizzy drinks and popcorn to watch James Bond DVDs.
Ineffably silly though it all is, this six-parter hurtles along at the speed of an intercontinental airliner. I'm along for the whole ride.
Happy returns of the weekend: BBC2 marked its 60th birthday on Saturday. In fact, the first night in 1964 was a disaster, thanks to a power blackout. Auntie was right to celebrate with an evening of sitcoms and music instead — four hours of the test card wouldn't be much of a party.
VeganismITVBeijing
